Bathing enclosure sliding door panels having complementary visual characteristics
A bathing enclosure on which an overall image feature is displayed, as well as a method of displaying an overall image feature on a bathing enclosure, are disclosed herein. The bathing enclosure includes a sliding door including a first panel, and a first portion including a second panel, the sliding door being capable of moving in relation to the first portion between an open position in which the second panel substantially overlaps the first panel, and a closed position. At least one of the first and second panels includes a section that is one of transparent and translucent, and the first and second panels include first and second image features, respectively. Additionally, the first and second image features are complementary in appearance so that, when the sliding door is in the open position, the first and second image features are combined to form the overall image feature.
Not applicable.
STATEMENT OF FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENTNot applicable.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to bathing enclosures such as shower enclosures and shower/bath enclosures. More particularly it relates to door assemblies useful therewith having decorative attributes that are apparent regardless of whether the doors are overlapped or not.
Contemporary bathing enclosures for showers and bathtubs commonly have door assemblies that allow for entry into and egress from the enclosures, and can be moved to close off the entry when the enclosure is in use. Two or three doors are employed in such assemblies in a sliding/bypass configuration with respect one another. In this type of configuration, the entry is opened when at least two of the doors are made to essentially completely overlap, and the entry is closed by minimizing the degree of overlapping of the doors.
Many of such doors are made of transparent or translucent materials (particularly plastics or glass) to improve the amount of light entering the enclosure. It is also known in the art to include various imagery on such panels, such as floral patterns.
Such imagery may be for largely decorative purposes, but may also be informational in some situations. Unfortunately, when such doors are positioned in overlapping configuration the imagery tends to become “muddied”, particularly if the front panel is transparent. For example, where both transparent sliding doors of a bathing enclosure include floral images, and the doors are moved so that they overlap, the overall appearance of the overlapping doors can ornamentally become unrecognizable.
Therefore, it can be seen that a need exists for transparent or translucent paneling for bathing enclosures where the doors are ornamented in an improved manner.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIn one aspect the present invention provides a door assembly for a bathing enclosure. It has a first door suitable to slide along an entry of the bathing enclosure, the first door having a transparent or translucent portion and a portion with a first imagery. There is also a second door suitable to slide along the entry of the bathing enclosure into and out of an overlapping relationship to the first door, the second door having a portion with a second imagery.
The first imagery and second imagery are complementary in appearance so that when the first and second doors overlap each other to a specified extent the first and second imagery combine to form an overall image feature that is a representation of a real object and is visible from a front side of the first door.
In one preferred form the overall image feature comprises a target having a bull's eye, such as where there are at least two linear components extending outward away from the target in two different directions.
In another form the overall image feature comprises a keyboard.
Both the first and second doors can have a transparent or translucent portion, preferably both being transparent apart from the imagery and the outer rim.
In another aspect the invention provides such a door assembly mounted on a bathing enclosure.
The invention is advantageous because it creates doors that have ornamental designs that present a decorative appearance regardless of whether the doors are overlapped or not. This can be achieved at relatively low cost, and can create interesting and unique ornamental effects.
While preferred embodiments will be described below, the following is merely intended as some examples of the invention. For an understanding of the full scope of the invention, the claims which follow that description should be referred to.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Referring first to
The sliding doors 100,110 each are mounted on upper and lower guiding rails 120 and 130, respectively, in the usual manner, such that both of the sliding doors is slidably movable relative to the other of the sliding doors in a by-pass relationship. In a fully-opened position of the sliding doors, one of the two doors is positioned entirely (or almost entirely) in front of the other, such that the two doors overlap. In a fully-closed position, which is shown in
In the embodiment of
In additional alternate embodiments the bathing enclosure could employ more than two sliding doors, a sliding door that is capable of sliding in front of or in back of two or more fixed walls, or two or more sliding doors capable of sliding in front of or in back of one or more fixed walls. Further, while the sliding doors 100, 110 of
The first and second sliding doors 100, 110 of
Each of the first and second panels 150, 160 is made from a plastic, acrylic, glass or other similar material that is fully, or at least largely, transparent or translucent. Thus, substantial light that exists outside the bathing enclosure 10 is transmitted into the enclosure, and at least some light existing within the bathing enclosure is transmitted to outside of the enclosure. Depending upon the material that is used for the panels 150, 160, a certain proportion of light incident upon the panels may also be reflected.
While the first and second panels 150, 160 are largely or fully transparent or translucent, the panels additionally include first and second image features or patterns 190 and 200, respectively. Depending upon the embodiment, and as exemplified by the two specific embodiments discussed below with reference to
In accordance with the present invention, while the first and second image features 190, 200 can take on a variety of forms, the first and second image features are complementary with one another. That is, the first and second image features 190, 200 are related to one another in a manner such that, when the sliding doors 100, 110 are moved to an open position where the doors overlap one another entirely (or, depending upon the embodiment, overlap one another to a particular degree) the first and second image features are combined to form an overall image feature or pattern depicting a real item.
The term “overall image feature” is not intended to encompass every graphical image and, in particular, is not intended to encompass a disordered amalgam of image features that merely happens to arise as a result of superimposing the first and second image features. Rather, the term “overall image feature” is intended to encompass graphical images that have an independent, recognizable meaning or order representational of a real item that is different from, and not provided by, either the first image feature or the second image feature by themselves. In terms of its meaning, the overall image feature is often greater than the sum of its image feature parts.
In particularly preferred embodiments of the invention, a fragmentary first image feature is overlapped with a fragmentary second image feature when the sliding doors 100,110 are overlapped such that, due to the overlapping relationship, the overall image feature is formed. Thus, while neither the fragmentary first image feature by itself nor the fragmentary second image feature by itself constitutes or suggests the overall image feature, the overlapping of the two image features produces the overall image feature.
While the first and second image features do not, by themselves, constitute the overall image feature, it is possible that, in some embodiments, one or both of these image features will represent one or more recognizable or real items. In such case, the recognizable or real item(s) represented by the first or second image feature(s) necessarily would be different than the recognizable or real item shown by the overall image feature. Nevertheless, in other embodiments, one or both of the first and second image features will not represent any particular recognizable or real items, even though the overlapping of the first and second image features results in the overall feature that is a recognizable or real item.
Turning to
As shown, the first image feature 210 encompasses a ring 230, a plurality of dots 240 extending horizontally away from the ring, and a vertical line component 250 extending downward away from the ring. The vertical line component 250 and the ring 230 each have a thickness that is identical to, or approximately identical to, the diameter of each of the dots 240. The second image feature 220 includes an additional dot 260 and a horizontal line component 270 extending away from the additional dot to the right. The horizontal line component 270 has a thickness that is about the same as the diameter of the additional dot 260, which is somewhat larger than the diameter of the dots 240 but less than the inner diameter of the ring 230.
In contrast to
As shown, the overall image feature 280 has a recognizable form that is substantially different than that of either of the first and second image features 210, 220. The target formation 290 in particular is an aspect of the overall image feature 280 that is greater than the sum of the parts supplied by the first and second image features 210, 220 (namely, the ring 230 and the additional dot 260) insofar as a target with a bull's eye has a meaning that is entirely different than the meanings of a ring and a dot.
Of further significance in relation to the embodiment of
To summarize, therefore, as the panels 150, 160 are moved toward one another, a visual indication of the movement is provided as successive ones of the dots 240 are impinged and enveloped. Further, if movement of the panels 150, 160 should stop intermediate the fully-closed and fully-opened positions, the relative positions of the horizontal line component 270 and additional dot 260 in relation to the dots 240 will provide an indication of the degree to which the sliding doors 100,110 have been opened.
Turning to
Similar to the first image feature 310, the second image feature 320 on the second panel 160 includes a third plurality of horizontal line components 380 that begin somewhat to the right of a left side 390 of the panel and extend inward therefrom, and a fourth plurality of horizontal line components 400 that begin somewhat to the left of a right side 410 of the panel and extend inward therefrom. The line components 380, 400 as in the case of the line components 330, 350 are generally vertically spaced apart from one another, and the line components 380 are interleaved with the line components 400. However, in contrast to the line components 330,350, the line components 380,400 extend inward past one another. The horizontal line components 400 of the fourth plurality generally are thicker than the horizontal line components 330, 350 of the first and second pluralities, which are approximately the same in thickness, and which are thicker than the horizontal line components 380 of the third plurality.
While
The embodiment of
The embodiments of the first, second and overall image features shown with reference to
Although the embodiments disclosed above pertain to a bathing enclosure having two sliding doors, each of which can slide in relation to the other, the present invention also is intended to pertain to a variety of other bathing enclosures. For example, in some bathing enclosures, only one panel is slidable as part of a sliding door, and yet it is possible to form an overall image feature using an image feature on that panel insofar as that panel can be slid in relation to a fixed wall panel that has another image feature.
In other embodiments, more than two image features (e.g., three image features), displayed on more than two panels are combined to form an overall image. In such embodiments, one, two or more of the image features are potentially located on sliding panels, and some of the image features also can be located on fixed wall panels. In further embodiments in which more than three different image features are available for being overlapped (e.g., three image features on three different panels), it is possible that more than one different overall image feature could be formed by different combinations of the three or more image features.
Further, although the embodiments of
While the foregoing illustrates and describes the preferred embodiments of this invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise construction herein disclosed. The invention can be embodied in other forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes of the invention. Accordingly, reference should be made to the following claims, rather than to the foregoing specification, as indicating the scope of the invention.
Therefore, the invention should not be limited to just the described embodiment. To ascertain the full scope of the invention, the following claims should be referenced.
Industrial ApplicabilityThe invention provides an improved bathing enclosure having one or more sliding doors in which both individual image features associated with specific panels and combination image features associated with overlapping panels can be displayed.
Claims
1. A door assembly for a bathing enclosure, the assembly comprising:
- a first door suitable to slide along an entry of the bathing enclosure, the first door having a transparent or translucent portion and a portion with a first imagery; and
- a second door suitable to slide along the entry of the bathing enclosure into and out of an overlapping relationship to the first door, the second door having a portion with a second imagery;
- wherein the first imagery and second imagery are complementary in appearance so that when the first and second doors overlap each other to a specified extent the first and second imagery combine to form an overall image feature that is a representation of a real object and is visible from a front side of the first door.
2. The door assembly of claim 1, wherein the overall image feature comprises a target having a bull's eye.
3. The door assembly of claim 2, wherein the overall image feature comprises at least two linear components extending outward away from the target in two different directions.
4. The door assembly of claim 1, wherein the overall image feature comprises a keyboard.
5. The door assembly of claim 1, wherein both the first and second doors have a transparent or translucent portion.
6. The door assembly of claim 1, wherein both the first and second doors have a transparent portion.
7. A bathing enclosure, comprising:
- enclosure walls with a frontal entry; and
- the door assembly of claim 1 mounted across the frontal entry.
Type: Application
Filed: Jan 15, 2004
Publication Date: Jul 21, 2005
Inventor: Hsin-I Cinny Tsai (Sheboygan, WI)
Application Number: 10/757,951